Tolentino: POC to establish incentive trust fund for PH athletes
CEBU CITY, Philippines— To bolster its support for Filipino athletes, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) will establish an incentive trust fund for them.
The POC, headed by its president, Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, announced on Monday, June 20, the creation of the trust fund after the POC handed over the checks as incentives for Filipino athletes who won medals in the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) held in Vietnam.
In a press statement, Tolentino said the POC utilized the P2 million that was left from a total of P13 million in seed money from its principal supporters, the Manuel V. Pangilinan (MVP) Sports Foundation, San Miguel Corporation of Ramon S. Ang, and Ulticon Builders Inc. of Charlie Gonzales.
“This trust fund is another milestone for the POC, it has never been done before and we are establishing the fund to motivate and inspire our athletes when they compete abroad,” Tolentino said during the POC executive board meeting held at the Knights Templar Hotel in Tagaytay.
The POC’s financial incentives to the Vietnam SEA Games amounts to P11 million—P5.82 million for gold medalists, P3.2 million for silver medalists, and P1.97 million for bronze medalists.
A total of 227 Filipino athletes bagged medals in Vietnam—52 golds, 70 silvers, and 105 bronzes.
The individual gold medalists received P100,000 each, while P30,000 was for the silver medalists and P10,000 for the bronze medalists.
“All donations from private corporations will automatically go to that incentive trust fund for athletes,” Tolentino said in a statement.
POC secretaries-general Atty. Edwin Gastanes, Bones Floro, Carl Sambrano, auditor Chito Loyzaga and board members Dave Carter and Charlie Ho, as well as Athletes Commission’s Nikko Huelgas, attended the meeting with treasurer Cynthia Carrion-Norton, first vice presidents Al Panlilio and Richard Gomez and board members Pearl Managuelod and Dr. Raul Canlas joining online.
MVP Sports Foundation head Jude Turcuato turned over the checks to the medalist athletes, including Eumir Marcial, Agatha Wong, and Merwin Tan.
It’s also best remembered that outgoing Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte doubled the cash incentives of the SEA Games medalists based on Republic Act 10699 or the Incentives Law.
He matched the P34,537,500 in total cash incentives that all of the medalists will receive.
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